Profitable Fischer Tropsch realization via CO2-CH4 reforming; an overview of nickel-promoter-support interactions.

Environmental pollution, climate change, and fossil fuel extinction have aroused serious global interest in the search for alternative energy sources. The dry reforming of methane (DRM) could be a good technique to harness syngas, a starting material for the FT energy process from greenhouse gases. Noble metal DRM catalysts are effective for the syngas generation but costly. Therefore, they inevitably, must be replaced by their Ni-based contemporaries for economic reasons. However, coking remains a strong challenge that impedes the industrialization of the FT process. This article explains the secondary reactions that lead to the production of detrimental graphitic coke deposition on the surface of active nickel catalyst. The influence of nickel particle size, impact of extra surface oxygen species, interaction of Ni catalysts with metal oxide supports/promoters, and larger fraction of exposed nickel active sites were addressed in this review. Size of active metal determines the conversion, surface area, metal dispersion, surface reactions, interior diffusion effects, activity, and yield. The influence of oxygen vacancy and coke deposition on highly reported metal oxide supports/promoters (Al2O3, MgO and La2O3) was postulated after studying CIFs (crystallographic information files) obtained from the Crystallography open database (COD) on VESTA software. Thus, overcoming excessive coking by La2O3 promotion is strongly advised in light of the orientation of the crystal lattice characteristics and the metal-support interaction can be used to enhance activity and stability in hydrogen reforming systems.

White hard clam (Meretrix lyrata) shells as novel filter media to augment the phosphorus removal from wastewater.

It is well recognized that filter media play a crucial role in constructed wetlands (CWs) for decontamination of phosphorus (P)-rich wastewater. This study investigates the suitability of raw white hard clam shells (WHC) and white hard clam shells thermally modified at 800 °C (WHC-M800) as potential media to enhance P treatment performance in CWs. The results indicated that both WHC and WHC-M800 displayed appropriate physicochemical properties, such as high porosity, excellent hydraulic conductivity, and rich Ca content. WHC-M800 exhibited a superior P adsorption capacity (38.7 mg/g) to WHC (12.8 mg/g). However, the practical utilization of WHC-M800 as filter media in CWs may be compromised, due to certain limitations, for example: extremely high pH values in the post-adsorption solutions; high weight losses during calcination and adsorption processes; low mechanical strength; and intensive energy consumption. In contrast, the WHC demonstrated significant advantages of reasonably high P adsorption capacity, locally abundant availability, low cost, and marginal side effects. The fractionation of inorganic P of WHC and WHC-M800 revealed that Ca-bounded P was the most dominant binding form, followed by loosely bound P, Fe-P, occluded P, and Al-P. The present study demonstrates that recycling of WHC shells as a potential substrate in CWs provides a feasible method for upgrading P removal in CWs. Additionally, it helps to reduce waste WHC shells in a simple, cheap, and eco-friendly way, thus can double environmental benefits.

Intensified Antituberculosis Therapy in Adults with Tuberculous Meningitis.

BACKGROUND: Tuberculous meningitis is often lethal. Early antituberculosis treatment and adjunctive treatment with glucocorticoids improve survival, but nearly one third of patients with the condition still die. We hypothesized that intensified antituberculosis treatment would enhance the killing of intracerebral Mycobacterium tuberculosis organisms and decrease the rate of death among patients. METHODS: We performed a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial involving human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected adults and HIV-uninfected adults with a clinical diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis who were admitted to one of two Vietnamese hospitals. We compared a standard, 9-month antituberculosis regimen (which included 10 mg of rifampin per kilogram of body weight per day) with an intensified regimen that included higher-dose rifampin (15 mg per kilogram per day) and levofloxacin (20 mg per kilogram per day) for the first 8 weeks of treatment. The primary outcome was death by 9 months after randomization. RESULTS: A total of 817 patients (349 of whom were HIV-infected) were enrolled; 409 were randomly assigned to receive the standard regimen, and 408 were assigned to receive intensified treatment. During the 9 months of follow-up, 113 patients in the intensified-treatment group and 114 patients in the standard-treatment group died (hazard ratio, 0.94; 95% confidence interval, 0.73 to 1.22; P=0.66). There was no evidence of a significant differential effect of intensified treatment in the overall population or in any of the subgroups, with the possible exception of patients infected with isoniazid-resistant M. tuberculosis. There were also no significant differences in secondary outcomes between the treatment groups. The overall number of adverse events leading to treatment interruption did not differ significantly between the treatment groups (64 events in the standard-treatment group and 95 events in the intensified-treatment group, P=0.08). CONCLUSIONS: Intensified antituberculosis treatment was not associated with a higher rate of survival among patients with tuberculous meningitis than standard treatment. (Funded by the Wellcome Trust and the Li Ka Shing Foundation; Current Controlled Trials number, ISRCTN61649292.).

Patterns of genomic loss of heterozygosity predict homologous recombination repair defects in epithelial ovarian cancer.

BACKGROUND: Defects in BRCA1, BRCA2, and other members of the homologous recombination pathway have potential therapeutic relevance when used to support agents that introduce or exploit double-stranded DNA breaks. This study examines the association between homologous recombination defects and genomic patterns of loss of heterozygosity (LOH). METHODS: Ovarian tumours from two independent data sets were characterised for defects in BRCA1, BRCA2, and RAD51C, and LOH profiles were generated. Publically available data were downloaded for a third independent data set. The same analyses were performed on 57 cancer cell lines. RESULTS: Loss of heterozygosity regions of intermediate size were observed more frequently in tumours with defective BRCA1 or BRCA2 (P=10(-11)). The homologous recombination deficiency (HRD) score was defined as the number of these regions observed in a tumour sample. The association between HRD score and BRCA deficiency was validated in two independent ovarian cancer data sets (P=10(-5) and 10(-29)), and identified breast and pancreatic cell lines with BRCA defects. CONCLUSION: The HRD score appears capable of detecting homologous recombination defects regardless of aetiology or mechanism. This score could facilitate the use of PARP inhibitors and platinum in breast, ovarian, and other cancers.

An intestinal epithelial defect conferring ER stress results in inflammation involving both innate and adaptive immunity.

We recently characterized Winnie mice carrying a missense mutation in Muc2, leading to severe endoplasmic reticulum stress in intestinal goblet cells and spontaneous colitis. In this study, we characterized the immune responses due to this intestinal epithelial dysfunction. In Winnie, there was a fourfold increase in activated dendritic cells (DCs; CD11c(+) major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class II(hi)) in the colonic lamina propria accompanied by decreased colonic secretion of an inhibitor of DC activation, thymic stromal lymphopoietin (TSLP). Winnie also displayed a significant increase in mRNA expression of the mucosal T(H)17 signature genes Il17a, IL17f, Tgfb, and Ccr6, particularly in the distal colon. Winnie mesenteric lymph node leukocytes secreted multiple T(H)1, T(H)2, and T(H)17 cytokines on activation, with a large increase in interleukin-17A (IL-17A) progressively with age. A major source of mucosal IL-17A in Winnie was CD4(+) T lymphocytes. Loss of T and B lymphocytes in Rag1(-/-) × Winnie (RaW) crosses did not prevent spontaneous inflammation but did prevent progression with age in the colon but not the cecum. Adoptive transfer of naive T cells into RaW mice caused more rapid and severe colitis than in Rag1(-/-), indicating that the epithelial defect results in an intestinal microenvironment conducive to T-cell activation. Thus, the Winnie primary epithelial defect results in complex multicytokine-mediated colitis involving both innate and adaptive immune components with a prominent IL-23/T(H)17 response, similar to that of human ulcerative colitis.

Multiwavelength Raman-fiber-laser-based long-distance remote sensor for simultaneous measurement of strain and temperature.

We propose a simple and flexible multiwavelength Raman-fiber-laser-based long-distance remote-sensing scheme for simultaneous measurement of strain and temperature by use of fiber Bragg gratings. By combining two uniform fiber Bragg gratings with a tunable chirped fiber grating, we readily achieve simultaneous two-channel sensing probes with a high extinction ratio of more than approximately 50 dB over a 50-km distance. When strain and temperature are applied, lasing wavelength separation and shift occur, respectively, since the two uniform fiber Bragg gratings have identical material composition and different cladding diameters. This allows simultaneous measurement of strain and temperature for long-distance sensing applications of more than 50 km.

Development of a multiwavelength Raman fiber laser based on phase-shifted fiber Bragg gratings for long-distance remote-sensing applications.

We propose a simple and flexible multiwavelength Raman fiber laser based on phase-shifted fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs) and a tunable chirped FBG. Using a simple multiwavelength Raman laser configuration with a single phase-shifted FBG and a tunable chirped FBG, we readily achieved simultaneous two-channel sensing probes with a high extinction ratio of more than 50 dB over a 50-km distance. The multiwavelength output was stable and the peak fluctuation was less than 0.5 dB. The temperature and strain sensitivities are estimated to be 10.1 pm/degrees C and 7.5 pm/microstrain, respectively.

Groundwater contamination assessment for sustainable water supply in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal.

A study was carried out to assess the water quality situation of groundwater sources in Kathmandu Valley, Nepal. Groundwater has remained to be a major water supply source for a population of 1.5 million at present in the valley. The focus of this study was to evaluate the extent and sources of groundwater contamination. Water sampling was carried out in selected deep wells and shallow sources. The level of pollution was evaluated by comparing the water quality results with WHO guidelines. The major problems with the dug wells, hand pumps and spouts were found to be the elevated nitrate and mercury contents. The deep wells located on the central aquifer were found to have a serious threat of ammonia pollution. Deep wells were also found to have iron, manganese and mercury concentrations exceeding the guideline values. Multivariate statistical analysis was carried out to cluster the sampling sources and identify the common factors describing the potential sources and possible mechanisms associated with the contaminants. The results suggested that disintegration of the sediment organic matter under strong reducing environment leads to the origin of the unusual water qualities at the central confined aquifer. This process may be microbially mediated and occurs with the simultaneous reduction of species such as arsenic, iron, manganese and sulfate. Both natural and anthropogenic water quality problems were observed in the groundwater system of Kathmandu valley. Attention should be focused to consider distinct strategies to address these problems.

Health and social service utilization among elderly immigrants from the former Soviet Union.

PURPOSE: To explore factors that affect health and social service use among elderly Russian immigrants from the perspectives of the elders, their adult caregiving children, and the health and social service professionals who serve them. METHODS: A qualitative, case-oriented study design was used and 17 elderly Russian immigrants, 8 adult caregiving children, and 15 health professionals were interviewed in the Boston area in 1998. Perceptions about the patterns of and reasons for Russian elders' health and social service use were summarized through content analysis of the interview data. FINDINGS: Participants across groups perceived extensive service use by elderly Russian immigrants. Life circumstances associated with immigration, cultural norms and beliefs, and structural characteristics of the local Russian immigrant community accounted for service use. CONCLUSIONS: Findings indicate that providing support for depression and loneliness associated with immigration, educating immigrants about the role of primary care providers in the US as well as realistic expectations for American medicine, and managing care to decrease the use of unnecessary services would facilitate appropriate service use among elderly Russian immigrants.

Membrane macrophage colony-stimulating factor on MADB106 breast cancer cells does not activate cytotoxic macrophages but immunizes rats against breast cancer.

Weakly immunogenic, but highly malignant, rat MADB106 breast cancer cells were retrovirally transduced with the membrane form of macrophage colony-stimulating factor (mM-CSF). The cloned mM-CSF-transfected MADB106 cells physically conjugated with macrophages, but were not killed by the macrophages in 48-h cytotoxicity assays. Macrophages killed the mM-CSF-expressing tumors in the presence of noncytotoxic doses of either taxol or taxol plus cisplatin. This indicated that macrophages bind to the mM-CSF expressed on the tumor cells, but for successful macrophage cytotoxicity to occur against mM-CSF-transduced tumor cells other factors must be present. The mM-CSF-transfected tumor cells were rejected when inoculated subcutaneously into normal rats. Cloned MADB106 tumor cells which expressed high amount of mM-CSF were rejected, while tumor cells that displayed lower levels of mM-CSF grew in 60% of the inoculated rats. The mM-CSF-transfected tumors that grew were smaller and had a greater amount of necrosis, compared to the viral vector tumors. Rats that spontaneously rejected the mM-CSF-transfected MADB106 cells showed rechallenge resistance to unmodified parental MADB106 and R3230Ac breast cancers, but not to the F98 glioma. These observations suggest that breast cancer-specific immunity was induced by the inoculation of mM-CSF-expressing MADB106 tumor cells.

Evaluation of acoustic beacon characteristics for navigation tasks.

The goal of the present study was to investigate the human factors issues related to acoustic beacons used for auditory navigation. Specific issues addressed were: (1) the effect of various beacon characteristics on human accuracy in turning toward the direction of the acoustic beacon; (2) the difference between real and virtual environments on human accuracy in turning toward the acoustic beacon; and (3) the perceived sound quality of various acoustic beacons. Three experiments were conducted in which acoustic beacons were presented in a background of 80 dBA pink noise. Results of the localization tasks revealed that (a) presentation mode (continuous versus pulsed beacon sound) did not affect the overall localization accuracy or number of front-back confusion errors; and (b) the type of acoustic beacon affected the size of localization error. Results of the sound quality assessment indicated that listeners had definite preferences regarding the type of sound being used as a beacon, with (a) non-speech beacons preferred over speech beacons, (b) a beacon repetition rate of 1.1 rps preferred over either the 0.7 or 2.5 rps rates, and (c) a continuous operation of a beacon preferred over a pulsed operation. Finally, sound quality ratings and localization errors were highly negatively correlated. This finding demonstrates the usefulness and practical values of sound quality judgements for audio display design and evaluation.

Health risks of rural water supply due to lack of proper sanitation in southeast Asian countries.

A comparative study on the effects of lack of sanitation and inappropriate waste handling on water supply was carried out in several Southeast Asian countries that have problems such as inadequate water resources, water supply and sanitation. Though the degree and the cause varied in each country, all the countries investigated had problems arising from contamination of water resources. It was found that there are several sources of water contamination, such as human and animal excreta, solid wastes from nearby houses, graveyards, contaminated river flows, and large-scale landfills for big cities. It was revealed that even when water is clean at the point of production, it could be easily contaminated through broken pipelines or improperly maintained containers. It is still rare to put chlorine into piped water supply and both the inhabitants' and water engineers' understanding of the importance of disinfection should be reemphasised. Although it is urgent to provide piped water supply to those who have only contaminated water sources, such as surface water and dug wells, it is also important to protect these limited water sources from the above-mentioned contamination.

Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of cisatracurium after a short infusion in patients under propofol anesthesia.

UNLABELLED: Fourteen patients, ASA physical status I or II, were recruited to assess the pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic relationship of cisatracurium under nitrous oxide/sufentanil/propofol anesthesia. The electromyographic response of the abductor digiti minimi muscle was recorded on train-of-four stimulation of the ulnar nerve. A 0.1-mg/kg dose of cisatracurium was given as an infusion over 5 min. Arterial plasma concentrations of cisatracurium and its major metabolites were measured by using high-performance liquid chromatography. A nontraditional two-compartment pharmacokinetic model with elimination from central and peripheral compartments was used. The elimination rate constant from the peripheral compartment was fixed to the in vitro rate of degradation of cisatracurium in human plasma (0.0237 min(-1)). The mean terminal half-life of cisatracurium was 23.9+/-3.3 min, and its total clearance averaged 3.7+/-0.8 mL x min(-1) x kg(-1). Using this model, the volume of distribution at steady state was significantly increased compared with that obtained when central elimination only was assumed (0.118+/-0.027 vs 0.089+/-0.017 L/kg). The effect-plasma equilibration rate constant was 0.054+/-0.013 min(-1). The 50% effective concentration (153+/-33 ng/mL) was 56% higher than that reported in patients anesthetized with volatile anesthetics, which suggests that, compared with inhaled anesthetics, a cisatracurium neuromuscular block is less enhanced by propofol. IMPLICATIONS: The drug concentration-effect relationship of the muscle relaxant cisatracurium has been characterized under balanced and isoflurane anesthesia. Because propofol is now widely used as an IV anesthetic, it is important to characterize the biological fate and the concentration-effect relationship of cisatracurium under propofol anesthesia as well.

Understanding and responding to the health and mental health needs of Asian refugees.

Asian refugees in the United States have health and mental health needs that are different from those of mainstream Americans and even of recent immigrants. This paper provides a close look at the past experiences and present lives of these refugees, highlights their major problems, and identifies their health and mental health needs. It discusses the reasons why their needs are not being adequately met, and proposes the "what" and "how" of the contributions that social workers can make to addressing those needs.

Poverty and impairment in activities of living among elderly Hispanics.

This study employed data from a prior national survey of elderly Hispanics to examine the relationship between poverty and functionally impaired status, i.e., impairment in activities of daily living (IADL). The sample for this study consists of 1,685 Hispanics age 65 and older, representing four ethnic groups: Mexicans, Cubans, Puerto Ricans, and other Hispanics. Ethnic comparisons based on personal characteristics, poverty status and IADL found there were differences among the groups analyzed in terms of marital status, language, religion, age, education, poverty, and IADL. Logistic regression findings revealed that elderly Hispanics who were married, bilingual, and had higher educational achievement were more likely to live above the poverty level than were their counterparts. Findings from an ordinary least squares regression analysis revealed that poor elderly Hispanics had more IADL problems; that men had more IADL problems than women; that IADL problems tended to increase with age; that more educated people had fewer IADL problems; that Cubans had fewer IADL problems than other Hispanics; and that Puerto Ricans had more IADL problems than all other Hispanics. Implications for social work practice are discussed.

Development and psychometric evaluation of the Demands of Immigration Scale.

The Demands of Immigration Scale (DI) measures demands associated with immigration, including loss, novelty, occupational adjustment, language accommodation, discrimination, and not feeling at home in the resettlement country. The DI scale was evaluated in a sample of 1,647 immigrants from the former Soviet Union who had resided in the United States from a few months to 20 years. Confirmatory factor analysis supported the proposed factor model. The DI subscales were internally consistent and had good test-retest reliability. Support for concurrent validity was demonstrated by correlations in the expected direction between the DI total and subscale scores and measures of depression and somatization. Support for discriminant validity was demonstrated by mean group differences in some or all of the DI dimensions according to age and years in the United States.

Predicting psychological distress among former Soviet immigrants.

This study investigated whether age, gender, marital status, education, employment, length of time in the U.S. and immigration demands (novelty, occupation, language, discrimination, loss, and not feeling at home) were predictors of psychological distress in a sample of 1,647 former Soviet immigrants. Multiple regression analysis indicated that the combined model of demographic and demand of immigration variables was significant. Results indicated that women, older immigrants, those with less than a college education, and those with greater immigration demands related to novelty, language, discrimination, loss, and not feeling at home were most distressed.

Predicting problem drinking in college students: gender differences and the CAGE questionnaire.

Adolescents and young adults are among the highest users of alcohol and other drugs in the United States. One of the tools most commonly employed in screening for problem drinking and alcohol dependence is the CAGE questionnaire. Research has indicated, however, that not only may the CAGE be a poor detection device for identifying youthful substance abuse, but it may particularly lack strength in the detection of alcohol abuse by young women. The current study examined the predictive power of the CAGE relative to other common assessment indicators of youthful substance abuse in a sample of college students. It focused on the relative predictive power of the CAGE in detecting a high level of drinking-related problems. In addition, the interaction of gender and a positive CAGE score was included in the logistic regression analysis to test the hypothesis that the CAGE is predictive for men but not for women. Results suggest that the CAGE is a relatively weak predictor of alcohol-related problems in this sample of college students, and it lacks predictive power for detecting, problems in college women. Issues concerning substance-abuse assessment in young people are discussed, with special consideration given to gender differences.

Psychometric evaluation of the Russian Language version of the Resilience Scale.

The Resilience Scale (RS) was developed by Wagnild and Young (1993) to measure a personality characteristic or coping resource that facilitates adaptation. The RS, however, has not been evaluated with foreign-born populations. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to report the factor structure, internal consistency, and concurrent validity of a Russian language version of the RS in a sample of 450 recent former Soviet immigrants. The 25-item 2-factor solution obtained by Wagnild and Young (1993) was not supported by the Russian data. However, a modified 12-item Russian language version of the RS was, for the most part, reliable and valid: The standardized factor loadings and goodness of fit indices obtained from confirmatory factor analysis were acceptable, the internal consistency of one of the two subscales was very good, and the correlations between scores from the RS subscales and various measures of constructs that are theoretically linked with adaptation were in the expected direction and statistically significant.